The Huntress
by overly-distracted
Summary: I really suck at these but.....Someone from Angel's past shows up in LA with a secret that could turn his world upside down. Things get interesting with the Scoobies arrive and something very bad happens.
1. Chapter 1

**The Huntress**

Ok, I had to remove this to make a _lot_ of changes but I think I fixed it. Let me know what you think. No flames please.

I really suck at summaries but...Someone from Angel's past shows up in LA with a secret that could turn his world upside down. Things get interesting when the Scoobies arrive and something very bad happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Angel or BtVS. Only Neala, Branna and the plot and later in the story, Skye.

Thoughts are in _italics._

**Chapter 1**

London - 1764

A wooden arrow hissed through the air and hit its target with ease. The vampire looked down at his chest before he burst into dust, leaving nothing but the arrow on the ground where he had stood.

The sound of heals clicked in the darkness as a figure emerged from the shadows to collect their weapon that lay in the light of a street lamp. A slim, delicate looking figure stepped into the light and picked up the arrow that lay at her feet. The raven-haired woman looked around discreetly before picking it up and reloading her crossbow. She held it at her side as she walked through the dark night, moving it from hand to hand when a human walked by on the side she was holding it.

Though, she didn't really need it, she just wasn't in the mood to ruin another dress fighting. Even though she didn't look it, she was incredibly strong and agile and could break the legs of a strong human male with one kick. She was given the name Huntress by the demons she encountered. Most of the ones she ran into were dead (or dust in the case of vampires) but some were able to escape and warn their friends about her.

The Huntress slowed to a standstill in the middle of the street, bright green eyes flicking from side to side. She could sense an attack coming before it came and this time was no exception. She fired her arrow at the first vampire and then had to rely on her strength and magic to help her ward off the rest. She lit the next few on fire with a snap of her fingers before she was hit in the back of her head and knocked to the ground. Her vision blurred for a minute as she felt her head being yanked back to expose her neck. Before the vampire could sink his teeth into her, a voice interrupted the fight.

"Stop!" The Irish male voice commanded. _An Irish man in England?_ She thought dizzily. "She's mine." The man stepped into the pale light of the streetlights, revealing himself to her. The Huntress's eyes widened with surprise and horror when she saw who it was. _Angelus!_ Her mind screamed. She wanted to say it out loud but her voice caught in her throat. Angelus it was indeed. The most feared vampire in England was standing in front of her. He dropped down to her level and looked her in the eyes.

"So, this is the famous Huntress. I kind of expected her to be taller or. . .something." He drawled in his thick Irish accent. "Put these on her," he said tossing cuffs and chains to the nearest vamp, "she's comin' with me." The vampire that held the chains didn't dare defy Angelus and did as he was told. Angelus yanked her up and pulled her along with him in the direction he had come.

"Before you try any kind of magic spell or something let me just tell you that these cuff were made to stop any and all kinds of magic. So, you can't do anything to me as long as I keep you in them." He informed her as her pulled her into an abandoned building and threw her on the floor. She found her voice and decided it was time to talk.

"What do you plan on doing with me?" She looked at him and noted to the surprise in his eyes when he heard her own accent.

"You're Irish." He stated still shocked by the sound of her voice. She didn't talk much, but when she did she tried to disguise her Irish accent with a British one.

"Wonder how you figured that out." She said sarcastically. He growled and backhanded her across her face. Any normal person would have fallen over at the impact, but The Huntress was no normal person. Her head jerked, but she remained on her knees. Angelus chuckled quietly.

"You're going to be fun to break." He pushed her onto her back and straddled her. "After I have some fun first."

A scream echoed through the night as he bit into her neck. Then for her, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Los Angeles - Present time

The sound of a shriek echoed off the walls of the Hyperion hotel and into Charles Gunn's ears, jerking him out of his semi peaceful sleep. He looked at his clock. 5:45. Who in their right mind would be up before sunrise? He asked himself. He jumped out of his bed and ran down the stairs of the hotel to the lobby where he thought the scream had originated and came to an halt. He had to stop himself from laughing at the sight. Cordelia Chase was standing on a chair looking franticly at the ground. A dark haired man was standing next to her trying to get her to come down.

"I'm telling you Angel, I saw a rat. A huge one." Cordy was saying.

"Cordy, we fight vampires and other demons and you're afraid of a rat?" Angel asked turning towards Gunn, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"I am not coming down until you find it." She crossed her arms and gave Angel a look that said she was serious.

"Fine." Angel said. He picked her up off the chair and carried her to the stairs and set her down. "I'm to tired to argue right now." He walked back over to plush chair she had been standing on and knelt down and stuck his hand quickly under it and pulled it back out. Only when he pulled it out he had a small rodent in it. "Is this your 'huge rat' Cordy?" He asked annoyed and amused.

"It looked bigger before." She replied. Angel opened the door and put the mouse outside.

"Cordy," he said coming back in and closing the door. "go to bed." He walked past her up the stairs heading towards his room. "You're lucky you didn't wake Connor up, because you're putting him back to sleep if he does."

The doors crashing open stopped him from going any farther up the stairs. He whipped around just in time to see a young girl go fling into the far wall and crumbling to the ground. He was about to go help her when another girl flew in, this one landing closer to the stairs. Her long black hair spilled over her face as she lifted her head slowly. She jumped to her feet and ran back out the door only to get thrown back in. The girl that had hit the wall stood up slowly and shook her head to clear it.

Angel ran to the opening where the door use to be and looked out to see what it was that had thrown these two girls into the hotel. His eyebrows raised when he saw their assailant. It was a extremely large vampire, around seven feet tall. He turned back to the girls to see them both now standing with crossbows in their hands aimed at the evil one. Angel jumped back as they both shot their arrows into the soulless beast and watched it turn to dust. He turned back and was now able to have a good look at them. The first one that had flown in looked like she was about 20, and the second looked about 15.

"Sorry about your door." The older one said. Before he could say anything the sound of a baby crying came from up stairs. Angel looked at Cordelia.

"I know, I know. I'm going." She said turning and heading up the stairs. Angel turned back to the girls and smiled slightly.

"It's no problem. It happens all the time. We were due for it to happen any way." He told the oldest.

"I'm Neala (A/N: pronounced nee-la) and this is my daughter Branna (A/N: pronounced bran-na)." She told him. Angel's eyebrows went up for a second time that night. Branna rolled her eyes and brushed herself off.

"Umm. . .how is she your daughter? You two look like sisters." Gunn asked, voicing Angel's thoughts. Neala laughed slightly.

"Yeah we get that a lot. I'm actually a lot older than I look." She told them. She pulled her hair out of its messy bun and shook her hair out. It was about waist length and the same color as Branna's. Raven-black. She pulled it back and into a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless deep blue turtleneck shirt and tight black leather pants. Branna wore a black tank top and tight blue jeans. She leaned over and whispered to her mom.

"Mom, that guy is a vampire." She said.

"Look closer and you'll see a soul." Neala whispered back.

"Oh. I knew that." Branna said looking Angel up and down.

"And he's also your father." Branna's eyes shot open wider. Angel wiped his head away from his conversation with Gunn in their direction when he heard the word 'father' used in their whispers.

"What did you say?" He asked stepping closer to them.

"I guess we should have been whispering quieter." Branna said sarcastically .

"I said you're her father." Neala said bluntly. Angel was speechless. He didn't understand how he could be her father. He was, after all, a vampire, and Connor was prophesied.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me." He shook his head. "Maybe this will jog your memory." She pulled down the neck of her shirt to reveal a bite mark. His eyebrow narrowed. "No? Perhaps my accent will help." She spoke in her old thick Irish accent. Memories came rushing back to Angel. His eyes widened when he looked into her bright blazing green eyes. What he saw scared and surprised him. "The last time I saw you, you were leaning down to bite my neck."

"Huntress?" He whispered, his eyes welling up with tears. He sat down on the last step of the stairs, rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his hair. Then something hit him. "But I killed you." Branna snorted and sat down. Neala shot her a look.

"What, it was funny." Branna stated. Neala shook her head and turned back to Angel.

"Immortals can only die if you cut off their heads." She told him dropping her accent, noticing Gunn shutter. "You only added to my scars."

"You're immortal?" A British male voice said behind her. She turned the man and nodded.

"And a witch." Angel said without missing a beat.

"OK. So, how old exactly are you?" Gunn spoke up. Neala smiled.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not polite to ask a woman her age." She teased him. Gunn blushed slightly. "I'm kidding. My exact age is 439. Branna is 150. The women in our family age every ten years. When Branna turns 200 her body will stop ageing and she'll, like me, look twenty for however long after that she lives." The Huntress said sitting down next to her daughter.

"Ok," Cordelia said coming down the stairs with Connor in her arms. "what'd I miss?" Angel groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Everything." He said standing up. He held out his arms and she put Connor in them.

"So. . .explain." Cordy said walking the rest of the way down the stairs.

"Maybe we should start from the beginning." Angel said. He walked toward the couch and chairs in the middle of the room where Neala and Branna were sitting and sat down.

"Good, 'cause, we're confused." Another voice said. Everybody looked up to the second floor to see who 'we' were. A demon with green skin and red horns and a pretty, young woman were walking down the stairs.

"Ok. Introductions first I guess." Angel said placing Connor on his knee and bouncing him slightly. " This is Connor, my son. I'll explain later. That's Cordelia, Wes, and Gunn, and these two," He said as the demon and the woman sat down, "are Lorne and Fred. Lorne is the demon."

"I guessed that." Neala told him. "I'm Neala and this is my daughter Branna. I guess you could call us, immortal Slayers. The demon's we hunt call us Huntresses. We also can do magic." Neala explained.

"Yeah I've heard of Huntresses. They've been around for centuries, right?" Lorne asked.

"Right. I've only been alive for a little over four centuries. My mother however has been around for about eight." Neala answered. "But she doesn't look a day over twenty."

"Huntresses are supposedly the most powerful witches known in all the dimensions. They posses powers only imagined by the lesser witches in the world." Lorne told them. Neala and Branna nodded in unison.

"So. . .how do you know Angel?" Gunn asked.

"Well, actually I don't know Angel, I knew the monster he was before he was cursed with his soul." Neala told them looking over at Angel. He avoided her eyes, looking everywhere but at her. Neala went on to explain how she met Angelus and what he had done to her.

"So, what you're saying is that Angelus captured you, raped you, drained you of almost all your blood and dumped you in some ditch?" Cory asked bluntly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Angelus left just enough blood in me for my body to make more. I must have been in that ditch for about two weeks cause when I woke up I had morning sickness." Everybody, with the exception of Angel and Branna, were dumbfounded. Wes was the first to speak.

"Extraordinary." He said quietly. "How long did it take Branna to develop and be born?"

"Oh I think I was about.three to four months. In my family, babies develop a lot faster then they do in normal humans." Neala told him.

"I'm hungry." Branna spoke up.

"If that's not a teenager, I don't know what is. I'll get you something, sweetness. What would you like? I think there might be pizza in the fridge if you want to follow me to the kitchen." Lorne offered. Branna stood up and looked at her mother as if to ask if it was alright that she go with the green demon.

"Don't look at me. If you're hungry, go with the man. If not, don't." Neala told her, shooing her away. Branna turned and followed Lorne out of the room to the kitchen.

"I'll take Connor up stairs and change him. Fred, can you give me a hand?" Cordy asked her standing up and taking Connor from Angel.

"Sure." Fred answered. The two women left the lobby and, rather quickly, went up the stairs.

"Gunn and I are going to do a quick patrol before the sun comes up." Wes told Angel as he and Gunn stood and left through the broken entrance.

"Why does it feel like they all left us alone purposely?" Angel asked Neala, finally making eye contact with her.

"Because they did." Neala smiled at him.

"I never knew your name was Neala. I only knew you as The Huntress." Angel said leaning forward in his chair.

"Well, if you had asked, I would have told you."

"No you wouldn't've." Angel said in a 'as matter of fact' voice.

"Ok, no I wouldn't've, but still, you never asked. But it means 'female champion'. I'm named after my grandmother." Neala stated standing to her feet and stretching her arms above her head.

"It suits you. So. Branna huh? Neat name. It's Irish right? How'd you come up with it?" Angel asked looking up at her.

"Well, it means 'raven', and she had a full head of nice thick black hair, so that's what I named her. Believe it or not, I almost named her Angel." She said sitting back down next to him. Angel laughed.

"That probably would have been just a little strange." He said shaking his head.

"Yeah, well, she was my angel. She saved me." Neala said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure she did." He said looking at the broken door. "You know, she does kinda look like me." It was Neala's turn to laugh.

"Yep, she's got your eyes. And now that I've talked to you, I've noticed that she's got your charm." She said smiling. He laughed and smiled back. "And your smile."

"She looks more like you than me."

"Good. We wouldn't want her looking to much like her father, now would we?" Neala kicked off her shoes and leaned back. "So. You planning on fixing your door before the sun comes up, or do I have to do it?" She rolled her head to the side to look at him.

"I'm still waiting to see your magic. I didn't get to see it 239 years ago." He told her standing up and pulling her to her feet.

"And whose fault is that? I'm not the one who put magic repelling cuffs on me. That was your soulless form." She turned away from him and lifted her hands toward the door. Its hinges reattached, the pieces that lay all over the floor went back to their original place on the door and the knobs when back to where they were.

"That was child's play. Wait 'till you see her in action." Branna's voice came from behind them.

"Ah, I see she must have gotten my great stealthiest, because I know she didn't get it from you." Angel said turning around and walking out of the lobby and into the kitchen where Branna had just come from.

"That's not funny." Neala called after him.

"Yes it is." He called back.

"Now I know who you got your need to argue from." Neala told her daughter. Branna smiled and took a bite of the pizza she was carrying. Neala went over to a window and looked out. "Sun's comin' up." She called to anyone listening. At that moment Wes and Gunn walked in.

"How'd you guys fix the door so fast?" Gunn asked looking it over.

"Magic." Angel said coming back into the room carrying a mug, with what Neala knew was blood in it.

"Magic? Who's magic?" Wes asked.

"Does it really matter?" Angel retorted.

"I'd like to know."

"It was mine. It's not like that was something hard to do. As Branna would say, 'It was child's play.'" Neala told him. "Do guys have any rooms we could use? I'm exhausted."

"Sure, follow me." Angel said heading for the stairs.

"You coming Bra?" Neala asked the young Huntress before following him.

"Nah, I'm not tired." Branna answered.

"Ok, but you really should get some sleep. But don't listen to me. You never do." Neala said turning on her heal to join Angel on the stairs.

"Playing the guilt card's not going to work, Mom." Branna called after her.

"I know. Can't say I didn't try though." Came the response as she disappeared around the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sunnydale - Same Time

"Dawn get up! You're going to make me late." Buffy Summers yelled up the stairs to her sister, who she knew was still in bed. It was Friday, the last day of school before summer vacation.

"Alright all ready." Dawn yelled back. Buffy shook her head and went back to making her lunch.

"Mornin' pet." A sexy British voice said behind her. Sexy? Where did that come from? Buffy asked herself.

"Morning Spike." She tried not to sound to happy to see him, even though she kind of was. "Hey, before you sit down, do me a favor?" Spike nodded. "Go up stairs and knock on Dawns door and see if she's up yet. And Willow too." She requested.

"Sure luv." He turned and headed up the stairs to Dawn's door. He rapped on the door.

"Yes, I'm up." Came the muffled reply. Spike rolled his eyes and knocked again. "I said I'm up." Spike knocked again. This time the door flew open. "Wh- oh, it's you. I'm up, see? I'm dressed and ready to go down stairs so you can make me some pancakes." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Good mornin' Dawn. Go down stairs and I'll be right there." Spike said pulling her out of her room and shooing her down the stairs. He moved to Buffy's Mom's old room and knocked gently.

"Come in." He heard from inside. He turned the knob and opened the door. The red head looked up from the book she was reading on her bed. "Oh, Good morning Spike." Willow said with a cheerful smile.

"Mornin' Wills. Buffy just wanted me to make sure you were awake. I think you were being to quiet, so she thought you were still asleep. I'm going to make pancakes, you want any?" Spike asked. Willow closed her book and stood up.

"I would love some pancakes." She walked past him and down the stairs. Spike closed her door and followed her down.

"I hear you're making pancakes. You making enough for everyone?" Buffy asked. She was sitting on a kitchen stool with her back to him, reading the comics. How she new he was there, was beyond him.

"If there's enough pancake mix, yes I will. If not, then only you girls get some. I'll find something else for the SIT's to eat." He explained pulling out the mix and a bowl. Lucky for him there was only enough for Buffy, Dawn and Willow. He decided the SIT's would have to have cereal or something. He tried not to laugh as he watched Buffy and Dawn practically inhale their food in their rush to leave.

They finished in record time, and started running around for last minute things before running out the door. Spike picked up Buffy's schedule and waited. The door opened back up and Buffy ran it and grabbed it from him and pecked him on the cheek before running back out. Spike looked at Willow, who had witnessed the whole scene, and raised his eyebrows.

"I think that meant thank you." She told him. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm going to wake the Potentials up. Be ready for a stampede." He turned and went down the basement stairs. "Alright girls. Time to wake up! Up, Up, Up!" He pulled each of their blankets off them and threw them in a pile. The girls moaned and some tired to cover their heads with their pillows. He took their pillows and hit them with them.

"Come on get up before I call Buffy and tell her you all want to die 'cause don't want to get up and train." He threatened. Oh yeah, that was a threat. He thought. They're not even moving. "Get up now!" He shouted. They all jumped up at the sound of his raised voice. "That's more like it. Now get dressed and come up stairs and have some breakfast. Then I want you all to go out back and stretch. Then do you exercises. Willow'll tell you which ones." He turned and went back up to the kitchen.

"Had to yell, huh?" Willow asked rinsing of the dishes Buffy and Dawn had left.

"If they had just listened the first time I said something, I wouldn't have had to yell. I don't like yelling." He pulled a pack of pigs' blood out of the fridge and a mug out of the cupboard. He ripped open the package and poured the thick liquid into the mug and popped it in the microwave.

"I know. It's your soul. A lot of people don't like to yell." Willow told him sitting back down. There was a clatter of shoes running up the basement stairs and one by one the SIT's walked in to the kitchen. "Good morning girls. Did you all sleep well?" Kennedy went around her and kissed her on the cheek before turning and going through the cupboards to find something to eat. The SIT's mumbled in response. Except Kennedy.

"I did." She voiced.

"That's because you got the cot, and we got the floor." One of the girls, Amanda, said sitting down and pouring cereal into a bowl.

"I'm going to stop the bickering before it starts. Find something to eat, eat it and then go out back." Spike told them before leaving the kitchen.

"I think we made him mad." Another SIT, Jamie, said taking the cereal from Amanda and pouring herself some.

"Duh." Kennedy said sitting on a stool next to Willow and eating a breakfast bar.

* * *

Sunnydale High - Lunch

Dawn sat in a chair outside her sisters' office. She had a stomachache and the nurse had excused her from the rest of her classes. She didn't know whether it was from eating her breakfast to fast or from something she ate at lunch. Whatever it was, it was making her stomach churn. Of course Buffy wasn't in her office, she was probably still eating. Oh, why did I have to think of food. She groaned inwardly.

"Dawn? What's wrong? Are you ok?" Dawn lifted her head and saw Buffy coming toward her. She shook her head and told her what was wrong.

"Alright. I'll be right back." Buffy turned and went into Principal Woods's office. She emerged a few minutes later. "Come on, he said I can take the rest of the day off. We get to start our summer vacation early." Buffy smiled at her sister and help her up. She went into her office and grabbed her stuff. "Let's go." They went out to the parking lot and got in Buffy's car and drove toward the house.

They pulled into the Summers driveway and got out of the car. Yelling could be heard from the back yard.

"I guess I should go back there and see what's going on." Buffy told her sister as she put her stuff down by the front door. "You go upstairs and lay down." Dawn nodded and headed up stairs. Buffy went through the kitchen and saw Spike standing in front of the window. Away from the sun of course. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing home so early?" He asked looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Dawn wasn't feeling good." She explained. "What's going on?" She asked again.

"They're fighting. I told Willow to let them have go at each other. Let out some aggression before you got home." He told her looking out the window at the SIT's.

"Do I get a go at them?" She asked walking out the kitchen door. Spike smirked and watched her approach them. She pulled Amanda off of Jamie and pushed her to the ground. The yelling stopped and they all stared at the Slayer.

"You guys want to fight? Good then tonight you are all going to go patrol. I'm taking the night off." She turned on her heel and walked back into the house.

"I guess that means I'm working tonight?" Spike said as she walked to the fridge.

"Nope. They're on their own. You can stay here or go out or whatever. I going to think about what I'm going to do." She told him taking out a can of soda.

"How 'bout we go to the bronze." Spike suggested. Buffy looked at and raised her eyebrows.

"We? Where do you get we?" He gave her a look that said she wasn't going out and leaving him there. "Fine I guess you can come. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when the sun goes down." She left him grinning in the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Los Angeles - Sunset

"Branna. Branna. Wake up honey." Neala said shaking her daughter. Even though she said she wasn't tired, Branna had fallen asleep on the lobby couch.

"What?" Branna moaned rolling over to face her mother.

"You want to came with me?" Neala asked kneeling down in front of her.

"Where are you going?"

"To dust some vamps and kill some demons. Where else would I be going?" Neala asked.

"I don't know. Back to Sunnydale? You said we were going to after we found Angel. When are we going back the Hellmouth?" Branna asked standing to her feet and stretching.

"In a couple of days. I'm sure Buffy and William are dying to find out how our encounter with LA's souled vampire went. I need to kill something. Get your shoes on." Neala handed her her shoes and turned towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Branna asked.

"To let Angel know what we're doing so he doesn't freak out." She called over her shoulder. Branna sat back down and pulled her sneakers on and did a few stretches. Wesley walked into the room and saw her bent over touching her toes.

"What are you doing?" He asked stopping a few feet away from her.

"Stretching. My mom and I are going to go kill some things." She told standing up straight.

"Can I come? I need some action." A voice said. Branna turned around and saw girl standing behind the couch.

"Branna, Faith. Faith, Branna. Faith is our resident rouge Slayer. And Branna is a Huntress." Wes introduced them. "Where have you been all day?" He asked Faith.

"Shopping." She held up several shopping bags. "You told me I should get some new clothes, and as much as I hate to shop, I went anyway." She put the bags down on the couch and handed Wes his credit card.

"You used my card!" Branna couldn't tell if he was surprised, annoyed or mad. Probably a mix of the three.

"Relax. I only spent about a hundred." Faith rolled her eyes. I like this girl. Branna thought as she strapped her favorite weapon to her back. A sword. Her sword. The first weapon she ever used. It was her favorite method of killing and dusting.

"Ok, let's go before he figures out what I just told him and tries to stop us." Neala said running down the stairs.

"What, is he asleep?" Branna asked following her to the door, Faith in tow.

"Yep. Who's this?" Neala asked gesturing to Faith.

"This is Faith. She's a Slayer and she's gonna come with us." Branna told her as they left the hotel.

"Hello Faith. I'm Neala, Branna's mom." Neala told head holding her hand out for Faith to shake. Faith hesitated for a moment, then reached out and shook her hand.

"Mom?" She said, sounding surprised.

"Yes, mom. We're a lot older than we look. I am 439 and Branna is 150." Neala explained. Faiths' surprise left her face as the information sunk in.

"Oh, well that makes more sense. I was about to ask if you two were sisters, but you beat me to the punch." She said as they entered an ally.

"Speaking of punch, check it out." Branna said pointing to a group of about six guys surrounding two girls.

"Good, some action." Faith said. "Excuse me. I don't think they really want to play." She said as the three of them approached the vampires. One of the vamps growled and broke away from his friends and came closer to the three girls. He suddenly stopped. He looked like he couldn't move.

"Sorry, but I don't think you want to come any closer." Branna said holding her hand up, palm facing him.

"Yes, I do. And who says they don't want to play? We were having fun." He told her.

"Hey, if he wants to come at us, let 'im come at us. I really want to do this the hard way." Faith said balling up her fists. Neala nodded in agreement.

"You really want to know who says?" The vamp nodded, baring his teeth. Branna let him go and fell flat on his face. "Ok." He jumped to his feet and snarled. "A Slayer," Faith smirked, "and two Huntresses." Branna and Neala bowed slightly. The rest of the vamps that were surrounding the two girls all vamped out when they heard the word 'Huntress'. The two girls took that moment to run while their would be killers were distracted.

"Now look what you did. You made us lose our Masters' breakfast." The first one, whom they assumed was the leader of the others, said. Branna pulled her sword out of it's sheathe and sliced his head off in one swift motion.

"To bad, so sad." She said as he crumpled into dust. The five remaining vampires decided they really didn't want to be dust that night, so they turned and ran.

"Oh good. We get to chase 'em." Faith said. She took off in pursuit of the demons. They turned right behind a bar with Faith close behind.

"I'll follow her, you go around the front and see if you can head them off." Neala told Branna before taking off to catch up with Faith. Branna put her sword back on her back and took off in the direction her mom had told her to go.

She went three building down and went around the corner just as the vamps turned down that ally way. They slid to a stop when they saw her running toward them and turned to go the other way. But Faith and Neala were in their way. So, up was their next option. Three managed to make it off the ground and onto the roof, but the other two ended up dust at the hands of Faith.

"Think we should go after them?" She asked the Huntresses.

"Nah. Just let 'em run back to their Master and tell him The Huntresses are in town." Neala told her as they walked out of the ally and down the street looking for any more demons that wanted to play.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sunnydale - The Bronze

Buffy wasn't sure she made the right decision, bringing Spike along. He had on, instead of his all black look, a dark blue shirt and his usual black pants. He also wasn't wearing his duster, so, to Buffy, that just made him look even sexier than he already was. _If that's even possible._ She thought as she sat down at a table with him, Willow, Xander and Dawn. A slow song came on and she just knew he was going to ask her to dance soon.

"I'm going to get a drink. Anybody want anything?" Xander asked. He took drink orders and went to the bar to get them. Spike stood up and turned to Buffy.

"Care to dance, luv?" He asked her holding out his hand to her. She looked at Dawn who gave her a 'GO! You know you want to' look. She turned back to Spike and stood up.

"Sure, why not." She took his hand and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. She put her arms around his neck while he put his hands on her hips.

Xander returned with their drinks and looked around for the missing two.

"Where'd Spike and Buffy go?" He asked handing Dawn her Coke.

"Over there, and don't even think about going and breaking them up." Willow told him as his mouth gaped.

Buffy was moving closer to Spike with every sway of their hips, until her body finally found his and they melted together. She brought her head down and laid it on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She closed her eyes and breathed in his sent and lifted her head back up to look in his eyes. He gave her a lopsided smirk and tightened his hold on her. _God, doesn't his know what that smirk does to me?_ She decided it was time for her to make a move. She pulled his head down and captured his lips with hers in a semi-passionate kiss.

"What is she doing? Has she completely lost it?" Xander asked standing up.

"Sit down Xander." Willow said pulling him back down. "You are not messing up the rest of her night. If she wants to kiss Spike, let her kiss Spike." She took a sip of her drink and watched him put on a pout.

Spike pulled away from Buffy, who looked at him confused.

"Your friends are watching. Don't you care?" He asked looking over at the table where they sat. He noted that Xander was obviously pouting.

"No. Should I?" He leaned back down and kissed her harder and more passionately. "Spike." She said breaking away from him. "If we keep going like that, we won't be able to stop. And personally, I don't want all these people having a free porn show. Especially not Dawn." She told him, breathing heavily. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

"It's looks like our drinks are ready. Let's go and join your friends, shall we?" he took her hand and led her back to the table. Dawn was grinning wildly. "Dawn wipe that stupid grin off your face. You look like a maniac." Spike told the youngest Summers girl. She took her drink and finished it off.

"Want another one? Good. I'll go get it." Xander said getting up and leaving the table before Dawn could answer.

"I'll go talk to him." Buffy said. She got up and walked over to the bar where Xander was sitting and sat down next to him.

"Buffy what are you doing? Have you completely forgotten what he tried to do?" Xander asked calmly as he turned to look at her.

"No Xander, I haven't. But he knew what he was doing was wrong and he stopped himself. He felt bad enough about it to go away and come back with a soul. He's won back my trust and he's really trying hard to win back yours. Give him one more chance. I have." She didn't move her eyes away from his as they sat there in silence. He finally turned away and sighed.

"Alright, I'll give him another chance. But did you really have to kiss him in front of me? I mean come on Buff.ew?" He grabbed Dawns drink and walked back to the table leaving Buffy laughing at the bar. She shook her head and followed him back. "Here you go Dawn." Xander sat down and handed her her soda. "You know, since it is summer vacation, I think we should go on vacation. Of course that all depends on how well the potentials do tonight." He suggested.

"Oh yeah? Where to? LA?" Spike asked as Buffy sat back down next to him and laced her fingers through his.

"Yeah, maybe we'll run into Neala and Branna. I can't wait to show Branna how good I've gotten with the sword." Dawn said excitedly.

"I wonder if they told Angel yet. I wish I was there to see the look on his face if they did tell them." Willow put in. Spike laughed as they image of a shocked Angel filled his mind.

"Yeah, that would have been funny, wouldn't it?" He said between laughs.

"You know, a vacation doesn't sound so bad. I think we should do it. We'll go to LA and see if we can find Neala and Branna. And even if we don't we can always stay with Angel. He does live in a hotel after all." Buffy told them. They all, even Spike, nodded in agreement. "Good we'll leave right after sunset tomorrow. Willow when we get home, call Cordelia and let her know we're coming, but tell her not to tell Angel. What he doesn't know wouldn't kill him."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

LA - Midnight

"You mean to tell me you let them go out with out them telling you which part of LA they were patrolling!" Angel asked in a raised voice. Wes narrowed his eyebrows.

"They're big girls, they can handle themselves perfectly well. I don't know why you're so huffy about it. It's not going to kill you if you don't know where they are all the time. Besides, Neala told you they were going out. You could have yelled at her then instead of me now." Wes said looking back down at a book of ancient spells.

"I am not being huffy." Angel sat down across from Wes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes you are." Cory yelled from the kitchen. Before Angel could say another word the phone rang. "Hello?" he heard her say and then silence. "Wrong number." She told them as she went out side and closed the back door. Neither man saw her take the phone with her.

When she was sure Angel couldn't hear or see her she lifted the phone back up to her ear.

"Ok, I'm outside. Go ahead Willow." She spoke into the receiver. "You are?" pause. "Ok. So, you don't want any one else to know?" another pause. "Ok, so that's you, Xander, Buffy, Dawn, and. . .Spike?" pause. "Ok, I'll get about four rooms ready for you guys by tomorrow night. Bye." She went back in the house and made sure no one saw her carry the phone back in. The front entrance door opened and the three demon hunters walked in, the Huntresses laughing wildly. Faith was cover head to toe in green demon slime.

"What happened?" Angel asked Neala as he jumped to his feet. Neala was laughing so hard, she was crying, so Branna answered for her.

"A demon attacked us out side the hotel. We don't know what it was but it sure makes a mess when you cut off its head." She said holding up her sword. It too was coated in slime. "Anywhere I can wash this off?" She asked.

"The downstairs bathroom sink. That way." Wes told her pointing to her left. She left the room and went into the bathroom. "Faith, how did you end up covered in the.slime?" He asked the Slayer, handing her a handkerchief for her to wipe her face off with.

"Branna and Neala are a lot faster than me. After Branna sliced it's head off, it's. . .blood started to splert out and we turned and ran so we wouldn't get any on us. Well, obviously I wasn't fast enough. I got to take a shower." She explained to them as she wipe some of the slime out of her hair. "Branna hurry up! It's starting to harden!" She called down the hall to Branna.

That comment only made Neala laugh harder. She collapsed to her knees and clutched. She tried to stop, but every time she closed her eyes to breathed she saw Faith getting covered in slime and she started back up. Faith rolled her eyes and walked around the corner into the bathroom when Branna came out.

"I think I needed something to eat." She told the two men.

"Come with me. I'll get you something." Wesley said gesturing for her to go ahead of him.

Angel stay in the room and watched Neala laugh. It amazed him how much one person could laugh. He dropped down to the floor as she took a deep breath to try and stop. Angel was afraid if he said something she'd start up again, so he remained quiet. She sat herself up, wiped her face, and took another deep breath. Angel watched her quietly until she looked at him.

"I heard you burn a lot of calories laughing." He said giving her a soft smile.

"Yeah that's what I heard too. And it's probably true, my stomach hurts." She said holding her stomach and smiling. He chuckled and stood up. He held out his hand for her to take.

"I don't know if I can ever say sorry to you enough for what I did as Angelus, but I hope you don't hate me to much because of it." He told her as she took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. She lost her balance and fell into him.

"I don't hate you. You're not Angelus, you're Angel. And Angel is completely different from Angelus. One has a soul and the other doesn't. I don't hate you, I hate him. But," she continued before he could said something. "I think something good came out of it. I mean look what he gave me. Branna is the best thing that ever happened to me and she will always be the best thing to happen to me. I can't forgive you for something you didn't do, but I can say thank you for something you did do. So, thank you." She pulled his head down and kissed him gently on the lips. She pulled away and smiled.

"I can work with that." He said before kissing her again. She pulled away again and laughed.

"I gotta take a shower. That is if FAITH HASN'T USED ALL THE HOT WATER!" She yelled the last part loud enough so Faith could hear her.

"I'm almost done!" they the muffled reply. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before turning around and running up the stairs. A scream was heard from the downstairs bathroom.

"Alright, who ran the water and made the shower go ice cold?" Faith yelled walking into the room wrapped in a towel. Angel shook his head and laughed. _Women._ He thought to himself.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sunnydale - 10am the next day

Buffy awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running and someone singing. She got out of bed and stretched. She walked done the hall towards the bathroom and the closer she got the louder the singing got and she recognized the voice as Spike.

"He's been in there for a half an hour Buffy." Dawn said coming out of her room heading down the stairs. Buffy waited until her sister was out of sight before opening the door of the bathroom and going in. The mirror was completely fogged up.

"You know you're using all my hot water, don't you?" She said leaning back against the sink. Spike stopped singing and poked his head out from behind the curtain.

"I didn't hear you knock." He said turning off the shower and pulling his towel off the rack.

"That's because I didn't." She said as he stepped out of the shower wearing nothing but a very small towel. "I guess I need to get bigger towels, huh?" she said eyeing his lower half. He if could blush, Buffy figured he'd probably be beet red right about now. "Of course I don't mind the small ones." She stepped closer to him until he could feel her body heat.

"Then I'll have to wear them more often." He said before taking her head in his hands and kissing her. Her hands made their way to the towel and found where it was tucked in. She slowly pulled it off him and let it drop to the floor. This just made him kiss her even more as his hands roamed her body. They found their way to the hem of her shirt and fingered it. She raised her arms slightly and broke away from him long enough for him to pull it over her head. She found his lips and continued her assault on them as he lowered her to the mat on the floor.

Downstairs the front door opened and Xander walked in.

"Morning ladies. Where's Buffy? She up yet?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen and saw Dawn, Willow, and Kennedy sitting at the counter.

"Oh, she's up." Dawn said not looking up from her eggs. Willow hid a smile and Kennedy covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"What's going on? You three are acting stranger than you usually are. Wait. Where's Spike? Their not-never mind don't answer that, I don't want to know." He closed his eyes as the image of Spike and Buffy going at it ran through his mind. The sounded of a moan made it's way down stairs and the three girls burst out laughing. Xander rolled his eyes and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Buffy lay in Spike arms on the bathroom floor after their little, well, she didn't know what to call it but loved it. _Way better than the first times we did it._ She thought as she kissed Spikes cheek. _It was different too. Almost like-_ Buffy cut the thought off before she finished it. She knew what it was like.

"Spike?" she said softly.

"Hmm?" Was his reply.

"I need to tell you something and it might take a minute to get out, so bare with me." He nodded, looking her in her eyes. She took a deep breath. "Here it goes. I. . .I love you." She stuttered. His eyes widened. Had he heard her right? Did she say what he hoped she said?

"You do?" he asked trying not to smile until she confirmed it.

"Yes." She said nodding. He pulled her on top of him and kissed her with all he had in him.

"I love you too." He said breaking away.

"I know." She said smiling. "We better get down stairs before everyone thinks we died or something." She got up off of him and he whined as she broke skin contact. She pulled him to his feet and handed him his towel before pulling her pj's back on. She gave him one last passionate kiss and left him to put his clothes on.

After she left the bathroom she went back to her room and got dressed. By the time she left her room it was almost lunchtime.

When she got down stairs the first people she saw were Willow and Kennedy. She would have said good morning but they were a little preoccupied with each other's lips. She continued into the kitchen and joined Dawn and Xander at the counter.

"Morning Buffy. You just getting up?" Xander asked. She could hear the mischief in his voice so she didn't answered. Though she did hear Dawn snicker. Buffy quietly poured herself a bowl of cereal with a smile on her face. She went to the fridge and looked for the milk.

"Did you guys use all the milk?" She whined. Dawn pointed at Xander. She sighed and poured the cereal back into the box. "What am I suppose to eat? I'm starving." She opened every cupboard in the kitchen. _Nothing._ She thought to herself. _There is nothing left to eat. Unless Spike makes me something._ "Spike! Come here and make me something to eat!" she called up the stairs. "Please!" She heard the bathroom door close and a minute later she saw Spike. He stopped and looked around the kitchen at the open cupboards before continuing in.

"Find what you were looking for, luv?" he asked opening the fridge and pulling out the eggs and a pack of blood.

"No, that's why I asked you to come and make me something." She sat down next to her sister and watched him cook.

"Actually you said, and I quote, 'Spike come here and make me something to eat.' That sounded like an order to me." Xander commented putting his bowl in the sink. Buffy stuck her tongue out at him as Spike placed a plate of eggs in front of her.

"Thank you Spike." She said smiling sweetly at him. He smiled back and kissed the tip of her nose before turning around and pouring his blood into a mug and popping it into the microwave.

"Good morning Buffy." Willow said as she and Kennedy entered the kitchen.

"Good morning Wills." Buffy greeted one of her best friends.

"So, are we taking the SIT's or leaving them?" The redhead asked sitting down next to her.

"No. They did a good job last night so I'm going to have them stay here. Sorry Kennedy, but I need you to be in charge while I'm gone." Buffy told them. The SIT nodded.

"When are we leaving?" Dawn asked her sister.

"What time is sunset?" Buffy grabbed the newspaper and went through it.

"I already looked. It's at 6:48pm." Dawn told taking the paper and turning it the page where it said sunrise and sunset.

"Well, we can leave at sunset, or Xander can get our ride early and we can leave before." Buffy the hint clear in her voice.

"Right I'll go get us a van. No side windows. Just the windshield, the drivers side passenger side windows, and the back windows, right?" Xander asked the blond Slayer. She nodded.

"Can I go with you?" Dawn asked.

"Sure Dawnster. Get your shoes. We'll be back." He called over his shoulder as he left the kitchen.

"I guess I should get the SIT's up." Buffy said as Spike pulled his blood out of the microwave.

"I'm not doing it. They don't listen to me unless I yell. I don't like to yell any more. Well, not at humans." He sat down next to her and drank his lunch. Buffy rubbed his back and kissed his cheek.

"I know. I'll be right back. I think we let them sleep in long enough." She kissed him one more time and went down to the basement. Spike chuckled to himself as her heard her telling the girls to get up. She came back up and sat back down next to the vampire.

"If they're not up here in five minutes, I'm going to" She was cut off by the basement door opening and the SIT's walking into the kitchen and going through the cupboards and fridge for stuff to eat. She looked at Spike and raised her eyebrows.

"Why is it, they listen to a Slayer, but not a souled vampire?" Spike asked her. The potentials stopped rummaging through the cupboards and looked the two sitting on the kitchen stools.

"Yeah, I don't think that's respecting your elders." Buffy teased.

"Hey! Watch it! I'm not old. Not compared to Angel anyway." Spike told her. He got up and left the kitchen in a pout. Buffy rolled her eyes before following him out.

"Listen to him." She told the girls. She left the room and went into the living room. Spike was sitting there, his arms crossed over his chest, pouting. "Spike, I was just playing around." She said standing in front of him. He didn't move or say anything.

She pulled his arms apart and sat in his lap. She laid her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck. She knew he wouldn't last long and she was right. No sooner had she started kissing his neck did he pull her off his shoulder and started to make out with her right in the middle of the living room. Neither of them cared if any body saw them, they just enjoyed the feeling of each others lips.

They were still kissing when Xander and Dawn came back after picking up the van.

"Oh come on. Can't you two get a room." Xander asked in an annoyed tone. Buffy and Spike ignored him and continued their assault on each others lips. Xander sighed and rolled his eyes. He put the van keys on the table next to the front door and proceeded into the kitchen.

Buffy sighed into Spikes mouth and, regretfully, pulled away. Spike groaned at the loss of contact.

"I have to pack so we can go to LA and see your wonderful Grandsire." She stood up off his lap to go up stairs but he pulled her back down.

"You can wait a little while." Spike smashed his lips into hers in a crushing passionate kiss. After a split second of debating, Buffy gave in and kissed him back. He was right, packing could wait.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

LA - Sunset

"So, are you planning on taking me with you this time? I mean, I'd like some action too." Angel asked the three girls who were standing in the kitchen eating cold pizza.

"Hmm. I don't know. What do you think girls? Should we let him go with us? Or make him go by himself?" Neala said in a teasing voice. Branna and Faith looked like they were thinking really hard.

"I don't know mom. That's a tough decision. Maybe you should decide and leave us out of it." Branna said leaving the kitchen, Faith following a moment later. Neala smiled at Angel.

"She told me to decide. How are you going to get my to let you go with us?" She walked around him and stopped in front of him and bit her bottom lip.

"How 'bout this?" He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her sweetly on the lips. He pulled back, keeping his arms around her. "Is that good enough?"

"I'm not sure. What else you got?" She asked draping her arms over his shoulders and clasping her hands behind his neck. His expression turned serious as he captured her lips with his in a gentle lip lock. They were oblivious to any noises or voices around them. A demon could attack the hotel and they wouldn't've noticed.

"Any one seen Angel?" Cordy called through the hotel.

"He's in the kitchen, but I wouldn't go in there if I was you." Branna warned her, even though she knew the warning would be ignored. Cory walked into the kitchen and stopped in her tracks at the sight of Angel and Neala kissing in the middle of the room. Her eyes widened and she turned around and walked back out.

"I told you I wouldn't go in there if I was you. But did you listen to me? No." Branna said turning the page of the magazine she was reading.

"Why don't we just go out? They're going to be in there for a while." Faith suggested.

"Good idea. Cordy? Cordy? CORDY!" Branna yelled at the dazed woman. Cordy shook herself out of her shock and turned to Branna. "When they stop, tell them we went patrolling without them." Cordy shook her head ok and Branna and Faith took off out the door.

The sound of Connor crying caused Angel to pull away. (ok, so only one thing could pull them away from each other.)

"I gotta go get him." Angel said, running his fingers through her hair.

"I'll get him." She moved away from Angel and walked out of the kitchen. Cordila was still standing in the middle of the lobby. "Are you ok Cordy?" Neala asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Oh, Branna said to tell you that they went patrolling without you" Cordy answered.

"Ok." Neala answered as she continued past her and up the stairs to Connors room. He quieted down when he heard the door open.

"Hi there." She said as she approached his crib. His eyes widened slightly when saw her. "How are you?" She reached in and held her arms out. "Can I hold you?" She waited for a minute and he raised his arms for her to pick him up. So, she did.

"Would you like to go down and see your daddy?" She asked him as she pulled him out of the crib. "Or should we rock? Let's rock for a minute before we go see daddy." She sat down in the rocking chair that was next to the crib. She sat him on her lap facing her and started rock. He stared at her and a smile slowly spread across his face.

"You like to rock? Let's see if you like music." She started to sing.

To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra,  
To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Ly,   
To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra Hush now don't you cry   
To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra,  
To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Ly,  
To-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra That's an Irish lullaby.

He laughed as she finished singing. She stood up to go out the door and nearly ran into Lorne, who was standing in the doorway.

"You, my dear, have a beautiful voice." He told her.

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take his little guy to his daddy." She smiled and stepped around him and into the hallway toward the stairs.

Lorne stepped into the room and sat down in the rocking chair Neala had just left and put his head in his hands. Wes walked by the room and stopped when he saw Lorne sitting there.

"Lorne? Are you alright?" He asked stepping into the room.

"I saw her death. He's going to kill her." Lorne said lifting his head up.

"Saw who's death. Who's going to kill who?" Wesley's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Neala's death. Angelus is going to kill her. And soon. I don't know how he comes back, but I gotta warn them." Lorne stood up and left the room, with Wes close behind.

"Angel!" Lorne called.

Angel and Neala were in the lobby on the floor playing with Connor when Lorne came running down the stairs.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Angel said jumping to his feet.

"I saw Angelus kill Neala." Lorne blurted out. Neala eyes widened and she picked Connor up and stood.

"What? How?" Angel was now confused.

"When she was singing to Connor, I saw her death and the one who killed her. Let me tell you, it wasn't pretty." Cordy walked in at that moment.

"Who's death?" She asked. Connor reached for her, and Neala handed him to her.

"Neala's. Angelus is going to kill her." Wes told her.

"Oh." Horror and shock flashed across Cordelia's face as she sat in a chair.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Scoobies van - Close to sunrise

"Are we there yet?" Buffy asked teasingly. Xander sighed. He was driving and somebody had asked that question every five minutes since they had left Sunnydale. The only one who hadn't asked yet was Spike. Great now I've jinxed myself. He said to himself. He heard Spike chuckle.

"Something funny bleached wonder?" Xander asked without taking his eyes off the road.

"Well, yeah. You're letting them get to you." Spike explained. He looked around the van at it's occupants. Xander was now drumming his fingers lightly on the steering wheel in time with the music, Willow had her nose stuck in a book, Dawn had her headphones on and was banging her head to the music she was listening to, her sword sitting next her on the seat, and Buffy was cuddled next to him. Xander turned off the highway and onto the LA exit and a few minutes later past a "Welcome to Los Angeles" sign.

"Hey guys, Welcome to LA." Xander said. They occupants, all but Spike, cheered. "Now to find the hotel. Willow, direct me please." Willow put a bookmark in her book and proceeded to direct Xander to the hotel.

They pulled up to the hotel just as the sun was beginning to come up. They all piled out of the van and walked up to the entrance.

"Should we knock or just go in?" Xander asked. Buffy pushed past him, with Spikes hand in hers, and opened the door. There was no body at the front desk or anywhere else they could see.

"Hello?" Buffy called.

"Buffy!" Cordila said running into the room. Buffy let go of Spikes hand and the two girls hugged. "Hey Willow." Cordy said as she detached herself from Buffy and gave Willow a hug. And then Xander and Dawn. She got to Spike and raised her eyebrows. He stuck out his hand and she shook it. They heard more people heading toward the lobby and Buffy grabbed Spike hand as the rest of Angels crew and Angel enter the room. Angel nearly tripped from the shock of seeing Buffy. Scratch that, the shock of seeing Buffy, holding Spikes hand.

"Buffy. What are you- How are- Hi." He stuttered. Spike smirked.

"Hi. How are you? Is that Connor?" Buffy asked pointing to the baby in Fred's arms.

"I'm good. Yeah, that's Connor." He told her. The hotel front door opened and Branna and Faith walked in.

"Dawn!" Branna screeched.

"Branna!" Dawn, too, screeched running to her friend and hugging her. The both of them started talking at the same time.

"How are you?"

"Did you tell him?"

"What are you doing here?" Angel looked at the two girls confused.

"Did I hear Branna come in? Buffy?" Neala said coming into the room. She hugged Buffy and asked one of the questions Branna had asked Dawn. "What are you doing here?"

"It's summer vacation, so we're on vacation." Buffy told her.

"Don't I get a hug?" Spike asked the oldest Huntress. Neala smiled and hugged him.

"Hey Spike." She said as she squeezed him and pulled away.

"Spike!" Branna crashed into him and squeezed him with all she had.

"'ello Bra." He Squeezed her back.

After everyone had hugged Angel spoke up.

"How do you guys know each other?" He asked.

"We stopped in Sunnydale for a little while before coming here. We helped Buffy dust some vamps and kill some demons, you know girl stuff." Neala explained.

"Do they know?" Angel asked suddenly feeling left out.

"Yes. They do." Neala told him.

It finally registered to Angel that Spike was holding Buffy's hand. He jumped at his Grandchilde and pinned him to the ground. Spike began to laugh hysterically in Angel's face.

"What's so funny?" Angel growled.

"You, you poof. Did you just now realize I was touching your precious Buffy? I thought you were suppose to be" Angel's fist connecting with his face stopped Spike from finishing his sentence.

"Angel stop!" Buffy yelled at him. Angel, now sporting his demon vintage, either didn't hear her or merely ignored her as he continued his assault on Spike.

She tried to pull him off him but pushed her away. Only he pushed a little to hard. She flew into Neala and hit the far wall hard and crashed to the ground. Neala flew into the weapons case, shattering the glass doors. Spike eyes widened when he saw his love crumpling to the ground. He vamped out and pushed his Sire off of him and kicked him in the face.

Angel ran at Spike but slid to a stop when Branna materialized in front of him. The look on her face said she stake him if she had to. He growled and shoved her out of his way. He felt a stinging sensation in his back and then another and he collapsed to the ground. Two tranquilizer darts were in his back and Faith was standing behind him with the gun in her hands.

Spike slipped back into it's human form and he ran over to where Buffy lay in Dawn's lap bleeding. Neala was already being helped up by Branna and Wes. She had several cuts and gashes on her face and blood in her hair.

"How is she?" He asked stroking Buffy's hair.

"I think she ok." Dawn told him.

Buffy's eyes fluttered open and she saw a lot of people standing over her. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and felt the back of her head.

"Ow." She quickly pulled her hand back and closing her eyes. "Someone help me up." She said holding her hand out for somebody to take. She felt a hand slip into hers and she knew who's it was before she saw him.

She felt herself fall into the man she loved and held onto him tightly.

"Where is he? Can I dust him? Do I have permission to dust him? Please? Did I hit someone on my way into the wall?" She asked out loud. No one answered so she squeezed Spike harder. He chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Faith knocked him out with a tranq gun. He still over there where he fell, but I'm afraid you can't dust him. He's still got his soul as far as we know and we wouldn't want his boy to grow up without a dad, would we?" Spike told her. She groaned and looked up at him. "And you took Neala with you into the wall."

"Are we having fun yet?" she asked before he locked lips with her. He pulled away and she groaned again.

"Come on, pet. Let's put something on that head of yours." He pulled her into the kitchen and Wesley followed to help him find stuff.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A moan was heard from the other side of the room as Angel pushed himself up.

"I fell like I just had an out of body experience. Somebody please get these things out of my back." He said standing to his feet. "OW! OW!" He yelped as he felt the darts yanked out of his back. "Carefully."

"Hey, you should have said that before I pulled 'em out." Faith told him. He turned to face her and saw eleven very confused, worried, and angry people.

"Is she ok?" he asked.

"You should have thought of that before you threw her into a wall. Come on Dawn, let's go see what you can do with that sword." Branna said walking out of the room and out the back door with Dawn following.

"Are you ok Angel? You really scared us." Neala asked stepping over to him. Angel looked at her and his eyes widened when he saw the blood in hair.

"Did I do that?" He asked with fear in his voice.

"The weapons case did. I'm ok. I've had worse." She told him. "What happened Angel? Why did you go all 'GRR' on us?"

"I don't know. It's like-It's like my soul left and I didn't care what I was doing or who I was hurting. It felt like I was Angelus." He told her looking at the floor. He saw her feet move as she stepped backwards away from him. "I think someone somewhere is trying to bring Angelus back." He looked up at her and saw that her eyes blazing with fear and anger.

"I need to go consult some spell books. Willow will you help me?" Neala asked the redheaded witch.

"Sure." The two left the room headed for Wesley's library. The stopped in the kitchen first to see how Buffy was doing.

"Are you ok, Buffy?" Willow asked her. Buffy was sitting next to Spike, leaning against the counter as he held a cloth and ice  
pack to her head.

"Yeah I'm fine. I've had worse, remember? How are you, Neala? I'm sorry I took you with me as I flew threw the air." Buffy said, carefully trying not to move her head too much.

"It's no big deal. I'm fine. Just a few cuts, but I know I'm probably going to be sore in the morning. But don't worry about it. I think the worse that's happened to me was being drained and unconscious for two weeks." Neala told her as she felt herself involuntarily shutter. "We've got research to do, so we need to get to it." She pulled Willow out of the kitchen and into where Wes kept his books.

"I hope he's got what were looking for." Neala said pulling a spell book off one of the many shelves. A figure flashed by the window followed by another one.

"What was that?" Willow stood up and went to the window.

"It was probably just Branna and Dawn." Neala said joining her at the window. "Or maybe not." She said as two more figures ran by. "Back!" She yelled as one came fling through the window.

The two women jumped away from the window and ran out of the room as more came through. They were vampires, and as Neala looked of them she recognized a few of them as the ones she, Branna, and Faith hadn't stopped the other night.

"I don't understand. How'd they get in? We didn't invite them." Willow said as they closed the vamps in the room.

"I don't know. Go get help. I'll hold the door." Neala said pushing her back against the door. Willow nodded and ran off without an argument. The door flew off its hinges, throwing Neala to the end of the hall, the door landing on top of her, causing her to blackout.

Spike and Gunn ran through the hotel to Neala's rescue. Gunn pulled the door off her while Spike took out the vamps that were trying to eat her. Someone screamed outside the hotel and Spike recognized it as Dawn. He snapped the last vampires' neck and ran out through the broken window. The sun was about to rise so Spike had to hurry.

He rounded the corner to the front of the Hyperion and saw two vamps trying to drag Dawn away. Though they weren't getting very far, with all Dawn's kicking and flailing, she was making it hard for them to get her a foot. Her sword had been knocked a few feet away from her and Branna's lay next to it but, unlike Dawn, Branna was no where to be seen.

He picked up one sword and sliced both the demons heads off in one swift motion. He grabbed Dawn and pulled her into the hotel just as the sun lifted over the buildings. Buffy jumped up from her seat on the couch next to Neala, who was massaging her head trying to keep away the massive headache that was coming on, and threw her arms around her sister.

"Dawn are you ok?" She asked pushing her back to check her over for any wounds.

"I'm fine but they took Branna. They got some chain around her and she wasn't able to move. I tried to help her but I wasn't strong enough." Dawn said looking mostly at Neala.

"It's ok Dawn. We'll find her." The Huntress told her.

"Hey. Where's Angel?" Spike asked looking around the room. Angel was no longer there.

"He was just here. Before you ran in. He was standing right here next to me." Willow said pointing to her left.

"He was right. She did get her stealthiest from him." Neala said leaving the room and going back to her research.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Somewhere in LA

Branna lifted her head and opened her eyes. Everything was distorted. She saw a figure moving toward her and she tried to rub her eyes to clear them. But her arms wouldn't move.

"Who's there? What do you want with me?" She pulled on her restraints and realized she couldn't use her magic.

"There's no need to struggle." The figure finally spoke. Branna's eyes widened as he stepped closer. She still couldn't see very well, but her ears were working fine.

"Dad?" she whispered. Angelus chuckled.

"That's right. I'm your _real_ father." He stopped about a foot away from her and smirked.

"Why can't I use my magic?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Now, now, I think you know why. Those are the same cuffs I used on your mother. As to the question of what I'm going to do with you, I'd like you to meet one of my friends. He's a shaman, and he's going to put your soul in this bottle." Angelus said holding up a clear medium sized bottle and stepping back, allowing the shaman to approach and take it. "Just relax, Bra. It won't hurt."

The shaman began to chant and Branna's breathing started to quicken and Angelus could smell her fear and hear her heart speed up. There was a flash of light and the shaman turned to him.

"It is done." He walked away, placing the glowing bottle in Angelus's hands. He set the bottle down and walked up to his daughter and lifted her hanging head. Her eyes were pitch black and lips were curved into an evil smirk.

"Hello daddy."

The Hyperion hotel

"How long has she been in there now?" Buffy whispered to Spike as they stood in the doorway of Wesley's library, watching Neala look through book after book.

"Since this morning, and it's almost two o'clock. We got to get her to eat something." Spike whispered back.

"You two know I can hear you, right? I'm not deaf." Neala told them, not taking her eyes off the book in front of her.

"Yeah well, you do need to eat something. What would you like? I'll bring it to you." Spike said. Neala finally looked up at them.

"Pizza." She looked back down at her book and turned the page.

"Comin' right up." Spike turned and headed to the kitchen, leaving Buffy with the 439-yr-old Huntress.

"This is it. I found it." Neala said standing up and picking up the book. She gestured for Buffy to follow her out of the room. She and the Slayer entered the kitchen and found everyone in the room.

"I got it. It says here that, besides a moment of happiness, the soul can be taken from Angel with a specific chant performed by a shaman. It says to put the soul back we have to find an extremely powerful sorceress, but it doesn't say where we can find her." Neala read to them.

"Aren't you powerful enough to do it? I mean, Willow put his soul back the first time." Buffy said sitting down next to her sister.

"When the soul is taken out by a shaman, it's different. Don't ask me how, it just is. We have to figure out how to find our sorceress. I think I need to visit the Powers." Neala said setting the book on the counter. "Willow, I'll need your help." She walked out of the room with Willow following her out.

They entered the living room and lit a couple candles and sat on the floor in Indian style. They began to chant and soon they found themselves in a plain white room. Two chairs were placed in the center of the room with a man and a woman seated in them. Neala got right down to business.

"We need to find a powerful sorceress." She said before they could greet her.

"Do you not greet us anymore, Huntress Neala Winthrop?" The woman said.

"We don't have time for pleasantries. We need you to tell us how we can contact the sorceress powerful enough to restore Angelus's soul." Neala told them. Willow raised her eyebrows at Neala's tone. She didn't know Neala had gone to the Powers before.

"You seek the one called Skye? She is the most powerful sorceress known. We know of no other." The man said. Neala groaned.

"Where can we find her? Or how can we contact her?" Willow spoke up, wondering why Neala had reacted that way. The woman looked at her.

"You can find her in London. As for contacting her, a simple spell will alert her to your problem and she will come to you." She said. A table materialized in front of the two girls with a single piece of paper sitting on it. Neala picked it up and suddenly found herself back in the lobby of the hotel.

"Oh, so they bug me about not saying hello, but they can't say good-bye?" She said helping Willow to her feet. "Let's let the others know what's going on and then get started on this spell." She and Willow went back into the kitchen.

"Were you able to contact the PTB?" Cordy asked as the witches entered the room. She was sitting in a chair feeding Connor a bottle.

"Yeah. They gave us a spell to contact Skye. Our sorceress." Willow told them.

"We just wanted to let you know before we do the spell. Let's all go into the lobby. I want us all to be there when or if she comes. Oh and just a warning, she use to think she was all high and mighty. I haven't seen her in a while so just be prepared for a 'Greater that thou' attitude." Neala turned on her heel and walked out of the room, the others followed her out without asking any questions.

Neala and Willow again sat on the floor while the others sat themselves on the couches and chairs. The witches began to chant and soon there was a shimmering of light at the far end of the room as a figure appeared. A woman stood there in the place the light had come from. She was wearing a long black cloak, tight black leather pants and a royal blue halter-top, and had long straight red hair

"Whoa." Xander said. Dawn elbowed him in his side. The woman smiled warmly.

"I am Skye. I believe someone summoned me." She said in a thick British accent as she stepped toward them. Neala jumped to her feet.

"We did." She said as she pulled Willow to her feet. "We need your help."

"Neala?" Skye said stopping in front of Neala. The Huntress smirked. "You are quite a powerful witch. What could you possibly need my help for?"

"Long time, no see, Skye. I'm not nearly as powerful as you. We believe Angelus has been released by a shaman. We need your help to put back his soul and bring Angel back." Neala told her. "Will you help us?" Skye looked around the room at the others in the room.

"Why do you wish to restore the vampires soul? For your benefit or for the lives of innocent people?" Skye asked turning back to the Huntress. Neala rolled her eyes as her face scrunched in confusion. _Leave it to her to get me confused before we even get any thing started._ She hadn't really thought about why, she just knew it had to be done.

"I. . .I guess for both. I never thought about it. I want it done so he can't hurt anyone." Neala turned away. "Or me."

Spike easily heard her voice crack. Neala took a deep breath and turned back to Skye and narrowed her eyebrows.

"If you're not going to help us, I'll do it myself. Even if it kills me." Neala turned and headed toward the front door.

"You will not need to do it alone." Skye materialized in front of her, stopping her from going any farther. "I will help you." A scream behind them caused them to spin both to jump.

Cory was holding her head with one hand and trying not to drop Connor at the same time. Fred grabbed the him while Gunn held Cory up. The Scoobies and Neala looked at each other in wonder.

"Vision." Wesley stated. They all nodded and waited until cordial stopped screaming before walking over to her.

"You ok Cordy?" Gunn asked sitting her up.

"No." They all raised their eyebrows. "I just saw Branna killing humans."

Neala collapsed to the ground and sat there as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. Dawn approached her slowly and kneeled down next to her.

"You need to be strong Neala. We need to find Angelus and restore his soul before he does any damage." She said.

"He's already done damage Dawn. If she's killing humans, he's taken her soul." Neala put her head in her hands and sobbed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Angelus and Branna

"I want to do it now." Branna told her father.

"We have to wait until sunset. I'd like to get a piece of them too." Angelus retorted.

"I don't have to wait until sunset." She sat herself down across from him and shot him an evil smirk.

"You do if you want to keep this," He held up the bottle that contained her soul. "out of you as long as possible."

"You're impossible." Branna slouched back and crossed her arms over her chest in a pout.

"I'm your father, aren't I suppose to be impossible?" Angelus asked as stood and began to walk around the room.

"No. We're supposed to be having fun. Like, you know, out killing people and stuff?"

"WE can't do anything until the sun sets. End of discussion."

"You're no fun."

Hyperion Hotel

"Everyone have a weapon?" Buffy asked before they left the building.

They decided they weren't going to just sit around a wait for Angelus and Branna to show up and kill them all, they were going to find them first. They also decided to have Lorne, Fred and Cordelia stay behind with Connor, so Neala put a protection barrier around the hotel so no demon or soulless witch could go in.

Everyone nodded at Buffy's question. The slayer had decided at the last minute to bring Dawn along. She was very good with her sword and Buffy figured it would be easier to worry about her while she could see her than to worry about her when she couldn't she her.

Each person had his or her own weapon or weapons. She and Faith had three or four stakes in their back pockets and Buffy was carrying an ax. Spike and Dawn both had swords strapped to their backs. Skye had only her magic and Willow had magic and a couple stakes, while Neala had her magic and a sword. Xander, Gunn and Wes had axes as well.

"Alright. Let's go." Buffy led the way out of the hotel and out onto the streets. "Ok. Before we go any farther, which way should we go? Do you think we should split up?" She asked stopping the group.

"How 'bout we split into three groups? Three or four people and a witch per group." Neala suggested. The all nodded in agreement and began splitting themselves into their groups. Faith, Wes and Skye in one group, Buffy, Dawn, Spike and Willow in another, Gunn, Xander and Neala in the last one.

"Wait!" A voice shouted. They turned and saw Cordelia running toward them. "Here. You might need these if you're going to split up." She handed them three small walkie-talkies and turn back to the hotel.

"Ok. Whoever thinks they found something let the rest of us know." Wes said dropping the walkie in his pocket. They split up and left in different directions.

Angelus and Branna

"Now, we can go." Angelus said as he walked into the room Branna was in.

"It's about time. I thought I was going to die of boredom." Branna said standing up and walking past him out of the room. She stopped suddenly. Her eyes blazed red then returned to black.

"What is it?" Angelus asked walking around her and facing her, noticing her eyes flash.

"She's close." Branna said grinning evilly.

"Mommy dearest?" Angelus asked.

"Yeah. Her and two men. I think its Xander and Gunn. She'll be able to sense me soon. Should we play with them a little?" She asked looking thoughtful. Angelus cocked his head and narrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you propose?" he asked curiously. She looked up at the man whom she now thought of as her father and smiled sweetly.

"Leave a trail of bodies of course." She walked around him as he shifted into his demon face.

"Let's go have some fun."

Neala, Xander, and Gunn

"Wait." Neala said stopping the two men behind her. "They're here." She scanned the area and saw Branna standing about 300 ft away from them. Branna smirked and then disappeared via teleportation. "Gunn, let the others know what just happened. Tell them to be prepared just in case her and Angelus decide to attack any of them." Gunn nodded and pulled out the walkie- talkie.

Neala walked away from them toward them building and slowly dropped to her knees. She closed her eyes and concentrated on finding either Angelus or Branna.

"Neala?" Xander asked coming up behind her. She lifted her hand to silence him and he stopped talking. She dropped her hand and opened her eyes.

"I found Angelus. He's near Buffy's team. Gunn! Tell Buffy Angelus is near her and to be careful. I can't locate Branna." She told the tall demon hunter. Gunn nodded and proceeded to tell Buffy what Neala had told him. "Did you want something Xander?" She asked as he helped her to her feet.

"Gunn couldn't get a hold of Wes, Skye, and Faith." Xander told her, the worry clear in his voice, even though the only one of them he really kind of knew was Faith. Neala's eyes widened with equal worry as Gunn joined them.

"Will you two be ok to find Buffy on your own?" She asked.

"Yeah sure. What are you going to do?" Gunn answered.

"I'm gonna try and see if I can locate Wes. Get going and keep your eyes and ears opened. We all know Angelus is dangerous and Branna's very tricky with her soul, I hate to think what she's like without it. Be careful." Neala turned around and again dropped to her knees. She heard the two men run off, leaving her alone. She closed her eyes and focused her mind on trying to find Wesley. Something or someone was blocking her from finding him.

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath and reached into her pocket and pulled out the spell she and Willow had used to contact Skye.

"Maybe if I rearrange a few words I can't call her without having her come directly to me." She said to herself. She began to chant the spell her own way. :_Skye? Skye? Can you hear me?_: She called through her mind after she finished the chant.

:_I hear you. What do you need?_: Skye answered back.

:_Are Wes and Faith with you?_:

:_Yes. If you were trying to get a hold of us on the radio, Wesley dropped it and it broke._: Skye told the Huntress.

:_We were. I saw Branna briefly before she disappeared. I just wanted you to be alert. Do you think you'd be able to put her soul back as well?_:

:_I need both souls in order for the spell to work. If they are bottled up the spell will not work._: The sorceress informed her. Neala sighed mentally.

:_Alright, I'll work on finding them. I'll contact you when I do._: Neala opened her eyes without waiting for a response from Skye.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Buffy's team

Spike and Dawn walked behind Buffy and Willow, just in case Angelus decided to come up from behind. He could sense him better and faster then Buffy could so she put him behind them and let Dawn walk next to him. His senses were on full alert since Gunn had told them Angelus was near. His eyes were darting from place to place and his ears were open to any and all suspicious sound. He sniffed the air every so often to see if he could pick up and trace of his Grandsire.

Every time Spike sniffed Dawn couldn't help but look at him just to make sure he didn't smell Angelus. Even though she was slightly scared she felt safer with Buffy, Willow and Spike then she would have felt if she had stayed at the hotel, protection spell or not. Her heart sank when Spike stopped suddenly in his tracks and spun around. She heard a growl rumble in his throat and turned and saw him switch into his game face.

Buffy heard him growl too. She spun on her heal and saw Angelus standing at the other end of the street, a smirk plastered on his face. She heard two pairs of feet running up from the direction they were heading a moment before.

"Buffy. Neala sent us to--Oh god there he is." Xander said as he and Gunn joined them.

"Where _is_ Neala?" Dawn asked as she drew her sword and moved to position herself behind Spike and Buffy.

"She's trying to locate Angel and Branna's souls." Gunn told her. Angelus took a few steps toward them. He could smell the fear Dawn, Willow and Xander had dripping off them, while Buffy and Gunn had very little. He knew Spike wasn't afraid. He never was, that he knew of anyway.

"Hello Slayer. Long time no see. Well, for me anyway. For Angel it's only been what? A couple of hours?" Angelus said as he  
walked closer to them with his hand in his coat pocket.

"Go to hell." Was Buffy reply. It was the first thing that came to her mind.

"Yeah. What she said." A voice came from behind Angelus. He spun around and came nose to nose with Faith.

"Faith! How's it going sweetheart?" He asked in his sarcastic-cheerful-Angelus voice. She slammed her fist into his stomach causing his to double over.

"Don't call me sweetheart." She walked around him and he grabbed her leg and pulled her to the ground. He pulled her up to his mouth and let his demon vintage take over.

"I'll call you what ever I want." He went to bite her and was pulled back by an invisible force and throw into a tree. He growled and stood back up. Neala stood in front of him and smiled.

"Miss me?" She asked pushing back down with magic. "I brought you a present." She held up her hand and the bottle containing his soul appeared. "It took me a while, but I finally found where you hid them." She held up her other hand and Branna's bottled soul appeared.

"What'ch'ya waiting for? Go ahead put them back." Neala didn't have to turn around to know it was her daughter that had said that. "Oh, that's right. You can't. You're not powerful enough." Branna materialized next to Angelus and went to swipe the bottles out of her mother's hand but hit an invisible barrier. Branna scowled in confusion. "How--"

"I always come prepared." Neala told her. Skye floated down from the tree they were standing under. "You see, I knew you would try to do what you just did, and I know that I can't put a protection spell on myself so, Skye did it for me." Neala opened the bottles and Skye started to chant. Swirls of light and energy circled both Angelus and Branna as Neala stepped back away from them.

"We have company!" Spike shouted. A bunch of vampire jumped out of the shadows and encircled him and the others that  
were standing in the street.

"Keep them away from Skye!" Neala yelled back. "A protection spell on a person can only withstand so many hits!"

Another figure emerged from the shadows causing Spike to freeze in shock.

"My Spike's been a very bad boy." Drusilla said. Buffy spun around at the voice hoping her ears were wrong. Her eyes widened when she realized her ears were right.

Dru walked over to Spike, who was still unable to move from the shock of seeing his sire, and stood in front of him.

"Spike, I thought we dusted her." Buffy said as she cut the head off a vamp with her ax. Spike didn't say anything. His voice was caught in his throat as Dru walked in a circle around him. He heard Angelus laugh as the chanting continued. Spike eyebrows narrowed as he realized the spell was taking a long time to complete.

"It's not working!" Skye said stopping the chant but returning the souls to the bottles and making them vanish. Angelus stood up and cracked his neck.

"The gangs all here. Let's have some fun." He jumped at Neala, who's back was to him, and knocked her to the ground. "Ironic isn't it?" he switched to his game face. "I get to drain you twice." He leaned down to bite her but was hit in the head with the end of a sword.

"Not with me here." Dawn said helping Neala up and pointing her sword at him. Angelus's eyes widened when he saw who had hit him, then he smiled.

"Then we're just going to have to fit that, now aren't we." Branna said, knocking the sword out of Dawn's hands and backhanding her across the face. Dawn went spiraling to the ground and laid there, unmoving.

Branna smiled evilly at her work and looked up at her mother. Neala saw the look in her eyes and decided it was time to run. She took off away from Branna and Angelus toward a nearby cemetery. Branna started to go after her but was stopped by a large hand on her arm.

"I'll get 'er. You stay here make sure these idiotic minions of Dru's get the job done." Angelus told her before jogging away in the direction Neala had gone.

Branna looked around at the fight going on and went to go after Skye when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She looked up and saw Dru turning to dust and the bottle that contained her soul reappearing and shattered. Her soul quickly found it's body and her eye returned to their normal color. Branna took a few shaky breaths before looking up and see Dawn standing in front of her.

"How. . ." Branna trailed off. Dawn smirked sliding her sword into its case on her back.

"What? You didn't think I would let those magic books just sit there when nobody was using them, do you? I figured when Drusilla showed up she was probably the one controlling the spell that wouldn't let your souls return so I cut off her head, and Skye soul back. You should have seen the look on Spike face when he saw who dusted his sire." Dawn explained. Branna looked around at the people fighting of the rest of the vamps.

"Las!" she called. The vampires, excluding Spike, burst into flames and turned to dust. Buffy looked up from where she lay on the ground on her back as she waved her hand in the air to keep from inhaling dust. Spike pulled her to her feet and kissed her full on the lips. She pulled away from him and smiled before running over to Dawn and Branna and pulling both the girls into a hug.

"Are you ok?" She asked Branna. Branna flashed the slayer a genuine Branna smile.

"I'm fine now. Oh my god! My mom! I gotta go help her." Branna turned to run but Buffy grabbed her arms.

"He's going to notice you have your soul. Your eyes were black when you were evil." Buffy reminded her. Branna closed her eyes for a minute and opened them again; this time they were pitch black instead of brown.

"This good?" She asked. Buffy smiled and nodded and let go of the young Huntress. Branna took off in the direction of the  
cemetery, hoping she wasn't to late.

* * *

Irish word :  
Las - ignite 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

As soon as she entered the cemetery she saw them. It was like they were dancing to some unheard music as their swords clashed. Neither of them acknowledged her presence if they even realized she was there.

"Having fun daddy?" Branna asked pretending she was 'soulless Branna' as she sat on top of a head stone.

"A blast." Angelus said as he swiped his sword at Neala head and missing as she ducked and rolled away. "Oh, come on Neala. You afraid of me?" He swung his sword so hard it knocked hers out of her hands. He laughed and plunged his sword into her stomach.

Neala cried out in pain and dropped to the ground as he pulled it out.

"Just because you can only die by getting your head chopped off doesn't mean you can't be hurt." He whispered in her ear before stabbing her through the shoulder. He grinned and turned around to face his daughter and jumped when he found her standing right behind him, brown eyes blazing with fury. He frowned in confusion at the fact that her eyes were their normal color.

"Nobody messes with my family." She said quietly looking up at him. She pushed him and he flew into a nearby tree and slumped to the ground unmoving. Branna pulled her mother to her feet and got her out of the cemetery as quick as she could without hurting her any more than she already was.

The Hyperion Hotel

"Will she be ok?" Willow asked. They were all seated in the lobby. Minus Branna. She was up in her and Neala's bedroom.

"She'll be fine. Trust me. I've known her for a very long time. She always pulled through." Skye assured them.

"Good. I'm glad. She needs to hurt some more." They all jumped at the voice. Angelus was standing in the door way with a very large ax in his hand. He ran at them and they all ran in different directions.

"No! Stay together!" Wesley yelled. "He's trying to split us up so he can pick us off one by one!" He grabbed Cordy, who was holding Conner, and pulled her away from Angelus and toward Spike and Buffy.

"Wes, I'm touched." Angelus said as he grabbed Dawn by the hair and pulled her toward his chest. "You know me so well." He raised the ax preparing to slice Dawns head off.

He was suddenly knocked away from her and driven into a wall. He struggled to his feet and found himself standing in front of his Grandchilde. His very pissed off, game face sporting, Grandchilde.

Spike saw worry/fear flash briefly across Angelus's face before he was knocked to the ground. Angelus pounded into Spike face furiously and relentlessly.

"Ard!" The building shook with the sound of a voice as an invisible force pulled Angelus off Spike. "Imithe! Téigh as radharc!". Angelus flew into a nearby wall and vanished. Spike looked up at where the voice originated and saw Branna standing at the top of the stairs.

Buffy ran over to Spike and helped him to his feet as Branna walked down the stairs and helped Dawn to her feet as Buffy checked both Spike and her sister over.

"Thanks for the help luv." Spike said as Buffy helped his wipe the blood off his face.

"Don't mention it." Branna answered. "I think we might have a problem. I'm starting to feel like someone's trying to take my soul again. I don't want to be here when they do. Skye I need you to find out who's doing this and stop them." Skye nodded and left the hotel.

"What do we do while we wait for Skye?" Dawn asked.

"We come up with a plan to stop Angelus without killing him until we can restore his soul." Branna turned around and saw Neala coming toward them.

"Mom, you shouldn't be up." Branna told her.

"I'm fine. What happened to you?" Neala asked Spike after noticing his bloody face.

"Angelus happened to me." His face switched into his demon vintage as he said the name.

"Whoa, down boy." Xander told him. Spike took an unneeded breath and let it out slowly as his face shifted back to human form. Buffy rubbed his shoulder to let him know it was ok.

"Dawn. I have to say, I'm impressed with your courage and the powers you seem to have acquired over night. Thank you for helping to restore Branna's soul." Neala said as she sat down on the couch in the lobby. Dawn grinned.

"Hey, no problem. She would have done it for me." She said sitting down across from her and they started a deep conversation about magic.

"Well, they'll be busy for a while." Branna said.

"Hey Bra. Where did you send Angelus anyway?" Xander asked turning toward her. The immortal witch smirked.

"A church."

* * *

The weird words in this chapter are Irish :

Imithe means: away

Ard means: rise

Téigh as radharc means: vanish


End file.
